Study shows men just as likely to be depressed as women | Hacker News Reader

Study shows men just as likely to be depressed as women

latimes.com

7 pointsantimora10 comments

"In addition to familiar depression symptoms such as sadness, difficulty sleeping, feelings of guilt or worthlessness and loss of interest in pleasurable activities, the researchers expanded the list to include anger attacks, aggression or irritability, substance abuse, risk-taking behavior and hyperactivity."

That seems like it would border on the uselessly broad. Depression by that standard would mean not being happy and calm all the time.

They won't give you a diagnosis for simply being irritable now and then. There are other important factors like how often the symptoms are experienced and for how long.

There are fixed diagnostic criteria for depression. The diagnostic process is not just some doctor asking you if you are occasionally feeling sad. You fill out a form and get a score which tells to which degree you are depressed, if any.

This ranges from normal and functioning, with occasional negative feelings within the normal (i.e. not depressed), to delibitating symptoms: Staying in bed for days straight, finding no joy in any activity, never sleeping properly, unable to relate to the people around you. Depression is usually diagnosed if you have been feeling like this for more than two weeks straight. Psychiatry is not natural science, but the psychiatrists do have their methodology in order.

People assumes women are more likely to get depressed? I always thought it was the otherwise

Same here, also the article mentions that men are four times as likely to commit suicide.

If by "assume" you mean "agree with statistical data based on current classification of depression" then yes.

I was also annoyed by the choice of the photo in the article. Depression sometimes involves crying a lot, but more often crying would be related to a major crisis, such as the death of a family member. Depressed people often look surprisingly normal and well-adjusted, especially if their career and social conventions dictate that they should always have their stuff together.

I can see how that works. Ask a depressed woman and man if they are depressed, I am thinking a women would be more likely to admit it.

I was quite depressed for a while, job problems, social problems etc. I didn't go cry or something. My closest friends noticed it but that is all. I think men (including me) are probably less likely to admit/show his depression. I am no doctor though, so I might be wrong

I agree. Having been depressed, I can relate to both the typical symptoms of depression and the "new" ones, but as in your case I didn't let people know in general. There was a certain pride in emotional independence I felt that I think men have to a greater extent than women. Being more open about it is obviously healthier (it's like emotional load balancing), but society has made independence a virtue, especially for men.

In the U.S., at least, women are diagnosed with clinical depression at approximately twice the rate that men are.

See, for example:

http://www.healthline.com/health/depression/statistics#2

Reply on news.ycombinator.com